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C. Melissa Snarr

E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Chair of Ethics and Society
Associate Professor of Ethics and Society
Director, Doctor of Ministry Program
Faculty in Graduate Department of Religion
Affiliated Faculty, Community Research & Action, Women and Gender Studies 

On leave Fall 2024 and Spring 2025

Prof. Snarr’s research focuses on the intersection of religion, social change, and political ethics. As a Christian social ethicist, she draws on various methodologies to understand how religion transforms the world, with a special concentration on sociological and political theory and comparative religious ethics (focusing on Islamic political thought). She teaches courses ranging from "Contemporary Christian Political Thought" and "Religion and Social Movements" to "Religion and War in an Age of Terror" (comparative Muslim/Christian).

Dr. Snarr seeks to bridge the worlds of religious activists and academic ethicists to deepen the understanding of religious traditions and practices in order to enhance the work for justice. Her second book, All You That Labor: Religion and Ethics in the Living Wage Movement, utilizes ethnography to analyze and evaluate the contributions of religious activists in the living wage movement. She is also the author of Social Selves and Political Reforms, as well as a series of articles focused on how the interfaith movement attends to class issues, particularly the vulnerabilities of low-wage workers who are non-Christian.

Her current research focuses on “moral shocks” (e.g., school shootings, police brutality, climate disasters) and how religious resources help people move toward public grief and social change. She is also collaborating on research and educational resources related to “inclusive sports chaplaincy” that pay particular attention to queer athletes and, more generally, the need for intersectional analysis of athletes’ spiritual, mental, and material needs.

Dr. Snarr is a member of East End United Methodist Church (a reconciling congregation). She serves as a lay delegate to the Tennessee Western Kentucky Annual Conference and is a member of the conference’s Equip Strategy Team for the 2024 - 2028 Quadrennium.